Basira Joya, 20, presenter of the news program sits during recording at the Zan TV station (women's TV) in Kabul, Afghanistan, May 30, 2017
(Picture: AP)Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers ordered all female presenters on TV channels to cover their faces on air, the country’s biggest media outlet said on Thursday.
The order came in a statement from the Taliban‘s Virtue and Vice Ministry, tasked with enforcing the group’s rulings, as well as from the Information and Culture Ministry, the TOLOnews channel said in a tweet.
The statement called the order “final and non-negotiable”, the channel said.
The Islamic Emirate in a new order demanded all female presenters working in all TV channels to cover their faces while presenting programs... 1/2#TOLOnews
— TOLOnews (@TOLOnews) May 19, 2022
The statement was sent to the Moby Group, which owns TOLOnews and several other TV and radio networks, and the tweet said it was being applied to other Afghan media as well.
An Afghan local media official confirmed his station had received the order and was told it was not up for discussion.
He said the station has no other option.
He spoke on condition he and his station not be identified for fear of problems with the authorities.
Several female anchors and presenters posted their photos on social media showing them with their faces covered during presenting programs.
One prominent TOLO presenter Yalda Ali posted a video of herself putting on a face mask with a caption: “A woman being erased, on orders from the Virtue and Vice Ministry.”
On one station Shamshad TV implementation of the order was mixed: One woman anchor appeared with a face mask Thursday while another later in the day went without showing her face.
During the Taliban‘s first time in power from 1996-2001, they imposed restrictions on women including requiring them to wear the burqa that covered their eyes with a mesh as well as barring them from public life and education.
After they seized power again in Afghanistan in August, the Taliban initially appeared to have moderated somewhat their restrictions as they announced no dress code for women.
But in recent weeks, they have begun to take a tougher stance.
Earlier this month, the Taliban ordered all women in public to wear head-to-toe clothing that leaves only their eyes visible.
The decree said women should leave the home only when necessary and that male relatives would face punishment for women’s dress code violations, starting with a summons which escalated to court hearings and jail time.
The Taliban leader also issued a decree barring girls from attending secondary school, reversing previous promises by Taliban officials that girls of all ages would be allowed an education.
